From wiktionary: "
Early 19th century US; attested 1834. In original use, often used to refer to pulling oneself over a fence, and implying that someone is attempting or has claimed some ludicrously far-fetched or impossible task."

Actually, inform them the original phrase was meant to poke fun at the concept itself. Take a moment to actually picture what "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" would look like.

I find it pretty mind blowing that anyone could think that doing nothing is a sane and sound approach to climate change. It’s a disaster on every level.

As a start. Oh, so much more to indict him on.

Not sure when that started, but I do remember LBJ during the 1970s saying "we seem to have raised a generation of trouble makers". Immediately thereafter the cuts to public education began. The arts, languages, the humanities...anything that stimulated and developed critical thinking skills.